Global change and ecosystems research progress and prospect

Abstract

The response and feedback of ecosystems to global change is a scientific frontier in ecosystem ecology, which combines macro- and micro-level studies across multidisciplines. It focuses on the responses of ecosystem structure and function to global change, and its objective is to achieve sustainable use of ecosystem services. Based on the review of previous studies, we summarized the major progress and main achievements in this field and made an outlook for future challenges. According to the research content and object, this special issue systematically reviewed the effects of different global change factors, including increasing atmospheric CO2 and O3 concentration, global warming, precipitation change, increasing nitrogen deposition and land use change, on terrestrial plant ecophysiology, community structure, and ecosystem functions, and global change impacts on marine ecosystems. It mainly discussed the changes in biogeochemical cycles and biodiversity under global change, and clarified the mechanisms underlying feedback between ecosystem and climate change. The study of this research area could provide theoretical basis for the construction of global change adaptation strategies.